The First Glimpse of the Yellow Flash
by ImmortalSephiroth
Summary: Jiraiya and one of his students are returning home from a successful mission. However, trouble erupts at the Hokage Tower!


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

It was a bright and sunny afternoon, Minato noticed as he walked down the wide avenue. The yellow haired young boy waved and smiled to the villagers as he passed them.

Minato really did love the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He felt proud to be one of her ninja defenders, although he knew that as a raw Genin, he wasn't actually crucial to the village's safety. Still, from what his sensei, Jiraiya, told him, in time, he could expect a promotion.

Said sensei walked a few feet behind the young boy, pondering. Jiraiya felt unsure of himself. Who was he to teach? He had been the screwup during his own Genin days. What was the old man thinking giving him a squad? But he had to admit, he felt a soft spot for the kids. He briefly felt worried about his two absent students, wondering how they were faring during their training with Orochimaru.

"Don't worry, sensei. I'm sure Moshi and Cato are doing fine," said Minato, looking over his shoulder.

Jiraiya was surprised as usual. Even though Moshi and Cato showed promise at becoming competent ninja, it was Minato who just seemed to be that rare true talent. Just like now. The two had known each other a bare six months, yet he was observant enough to pick up on what his sensei, a veteran shinobi who specialised in espionage and deception, was thinking about.

He still worried though about the other two. He felt inadequate at not being able to teach them what they wanted. However, they seemed to have a knack for the blade, and that meant tutelage from a master. In the entire village, none had quite the grasp of the blade that Orochimaru had. There were rumours he had even surpassed their first sensei, Tobirama Senju, although without an actual bout between the two, it wasn't clear.

The Niidaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had decided that he needed more swordsmen amongst his shinobi, and so had decided to give Orochimaru charge of two of Jiraiya's students, at least for a while. Jiraiya hadn't really argued against it. As much as he wanted to prove himself better than Orochimaru in the old man's eyes, he knew that old rivalries came second to the good of the village. He had never been all that handy with a blade anyway.

For the past three weeks, he had taken Minato on a long range reconnaissance mission. He was the Jônin in charge of building up and hopefully later on maintaining the Leaf's spy network. Sarutobi-sensei had clearly recognized who was the better amongst the three. Flat-chested Tsunade might have her medical skills, and Orochimaru his blade

and ninjutsu; but neither of them could hold a candle to Jiraiya, legendary Toad Sage, and infiltrator extraordinaure!

Jiraiya and Minato had just returned, and in preparation for the kid's Chûnin exams, he would let the young prodigy give the oral report for the mission. As the mission leader, he would of course have to hand in a written report, but he could do that later. Although, he noticed the kid seemed more cheerful than usual.

"Hey, squirt, what's got you in such a great mood?" he asked.

Minato stopped and grinned that big wide grin of his.

"Oh, sensei! I want to show Sarutobi-sama my new jutsu!"

At this, Jiraiya stopped.

"What do you mean your new jutsu? I haven't taught you one since the mission started!" he asked confused.

"No, it's one I made up myself. It took me a while to get the seal right, but Sarutobi-sama told me to keep trying..."

At this, Minato launched into an excited rant of how awesome his jutsu would be, although Jiraiya carefully noticed the kid didn't say what the jutsu actually was. He decided to interrupt.

"And you didn't think of maybe showing your sensei first? I'm hurt kid", he exclaimed. At this, Minato rubbed the back of his head in embarresment.

"Actually, sensei, I can't". His grin wasn't as wide now as before.

"Care to explain why?" asked Jiraiya. Maybe the kid was just full of hot air. Well, he wouldn't be the first or last ninja to overrate his own skills.

"Heh-heh. I wrote the seal down and wrapped it around a kunai that I gave to Sarutobi-sama. I wanted to show you first, but I wanted to make sure I could do it right, so I asked Sarutobi-sama to examine the seal for me. I gave him the kunai before the mission".

Jiraiya was impressed. It seemed that the kid had discipline after all. Instead of recklessly just using his own jutsu, he sought out advice from a superior. Well, he could wait a while.

In no time at all, the two stood waiting in front of the old man's office. One of his guards, a silver haired Jônin named Sakumo Hatake if he remembered correctly, stopped them.

"Sorry, Jiraiya. Hokage-sama is in a meeting with an ambassador from Mist. He'll see you -" at this, a cry was heard inside. Jiraiya didn't waste a moment, he brused past Hatake and kicked the door open.

Only battle-hardened instincts saved him. Upon making contact with the door, he felt the sealing jutsu. A trap, he mused. He unwrapped a scroll so fast, and had pen to hand, that Minato only saw a blur. Equally quick, Jiraiya wrote a seal of his own, one that contained the fireball that threatened to kill them inside the scroll.

Minato ran on ahead, only barely dodging Hatake's hand, as the more experienced shinobi tried to restrain the novice.

Inside, was something Jiraiya had never thought he'd see. A tall muscular man, dressed in Mist's standard blue robes of state, had grabbed Sarutobi by the neck, and was about to plunge a dagger into the old man's heart. He looked up, and his grip tightened.

"Stop right there! Or the Hokage dies!" he screamed. Jiraiya managed to restrain both Hatake and Minato, furious with the old man for letting someone get the drop on him.

His mind raced, only to come up empty. He knew dozens of jutsus and was tough in combat, but he knew he simply didn't have the raw speed required. Even his Needle Jizô jutsu, normally an excellent defensive technique, wasn't quick enough.

Minato was surprised to say the least. He quickly processed the chain of events. Clearly, the assassin wasn't from Mist. Even the Shodai Mizukage wouldn't have dared to openly send someone to kill the foremost shinobi in the world. Whoever this guy was, he must be either working alone, or with some other group. He noticed the tanned skin. Perhaps the Sand ninja? They had just in the last few years established a ninja village of their own, although their violent history had already seen the death of the Shodai Kazekage, with his killer becoming the Niidaime.

He then noticed something that gave him hope. The killer held Minato's own special kunai in his hand. Of course! Hatake would have searched the man for weapons before allowing him in. Hokage-sama would have been examing the kunai or just left it on his desk or something, so the attacker would have grabbed it!

He narrowed his eyes, readying his chakra. He had only one chance with this jutsu. He closed his eyes and then did it.

Jiraiya only saw a yellow blur go flashing by him.

Hatake blinked. The attacker now had his arm in an iron like grip. Jiraiya-sama's young ward had somehow managed to move from the door to the enemy, a good thirty feet, faster than he could see, and had now prevented the attacker from carrying out his deadly purpose. Hatake mentally slapped himself awake, and grabbed his wire. In a matter of seconds, he had the ninja immobilized and disarmed, while noticing that Jiraiya had both the Hokage and the yellow haired boy protected with his Needle Jizô.

Alerted by the commotion, four ANBU appeared in the room. After a brief moment, they took up defensive positions around the assailant. With a word from the Hokage, their captain paralyzed the man, and took him away.

Jiraiya let his jutsu go, amazed at what he saw. He looked at the old man.

"Who is he, old man? And how did he grab _you_?"

Sarutobi sighed. He had to admit, he was embarrassed. Here was the feared Niidaime Hokage, the Kami no Shinobi, almost killed in his own office. Tobirama-sensei would no doubt have harsh words for him.

The Hokage looked at his saviour. The boy was panting heavily. Sarutobi could feel that the boy's chakra levels were low. Apparently that one jutsu he had used must have drained him.

"What jutsu was that, Minato-chan?" he asked gently. Minato took his kunai from Hatake. Unlike the regular kunai, this one had two smaller points offset at 35 degrees from the main blade. Wrapped around the handle was a paper seal, although neither Jiraiya or Hatake could recognize it.

"It's the jutsu I invented. I can teleport to wherever the seal is. Although it takes a huge toll on my chakra...I guess it isn't that useful..." he trailed off.

The three men standing in the room were astounded. Jiraiya was particularly surprised. Where had the kid learned sealing jutsu? And what a seal! He examined the kunai carefully. The seal was exquisitely written, as well scripted as his own.

"Where the hell did you pick up sealing jutsu, squirt. Certainly not me, I wasn't planning on teaching you until you were Jônin".

Minato again looked embarrassed. He mumbled.

"I stole some of your sealing jutsu scrolls about a week after my Genin exams. I spent the last six months working on this".

Sarutobi's eyes widened. A _Genin_ managed to steal unnoticed some of Jiraiya's most important tools? He looked sharply at his one time student.

" You haven't taken security precautions too seriously, I see." It looked like the Toad Sage would need to go re-train, _again_.

"But...Sensei...I did! In fact, he couldn't have been using my scrolls. I've had them the entire time!"

Minato mumbled again.

"I remembered what I read. It was actually too difficult for me to steal again, so I didn't".

At this, Jiraiya was angry. A combination of embarrasment, rage and fear brought him over the edge. He grabbed Minato by the scruff of his shirt and yelled at him.

"Never do that again! Sealing jutsu are too dangerous to mess with. How many sealing masters do you see? Huh? I'll tell you, only two, and that's because the rest are dead because they thought they could handle it!"

He calmed down and released his student.

"Although, I won't punish you. You saved the Hokage, and executed the jutsu flawlessly. Although, I can tell it'll be years before you can effectively use it. It takes too much chakra, so I'm banning the use it for now except in training. You're not to use it during missions except as a last resort. By the way, what do you call it?"

Minato beamed a wide grin.

"The Hiraishin no Jutsu!"


End file.
